Too Late
by East-Wing-Witch
Summary: Grissom and Catherine have a conversation about Sara. PG-13 for one bad word. There's a reason I write fics and not summaries.


**Disclaimer:** The Masters of CSI whoever those people are, own all here …I own nothing, except the dialogue. Other than that and the mistakes, I don't own anything. SighAnd my birthday is long gone… Maybe next year.

"Oh, Gil, you didn't?"  
He nodded, feeling the embarrassment that he had been subject to earlier return. The pitying look she gave him told him all that he needed to know. Shaking her head, she sat down.  
"How couldn't you have noticed? The signs are all there that she's seeing someone; she's not at work twenty-four hours a day and she's taking days off." She frowned slightly. "Tell me exactly what you said to her, and how she took it.  
Grissom shifted uncomfortably in his chair and shut the entomology book that he had been attempting to read before Catherine came in.  
"I asked her if I could talk to her, in here, for a moment. When she came in, I told her that I hoped that I wasn't too late, that I had finally figured out what to do." He paused, fidgeting with a pen until Catherine prompted him with an impatient  
"And?"  
Putting the pen back down on top of the desk, he sighed.  
"She just looked at me for a minute and then informed me that it was too late. She said that she was sorry but that she is seeing someone that the moment."  
Catherine shrugged slightly.  
"I did tell you that she wouldn't just hang around for ever. Sara is a clever woman, Gil. She gave you long enough to try to work out what you wanted, but when you did nothing she did what she had to do and moved on with her life."  
When her companion remained silent, she added  
"Well, at least she didn't turn to you and say that she didn't know what to do about 'this' although," pausing thoughtfully, "I don't know that I'd blame her if she had."  
Grissom raised his eyebrows at her last statement.  
"I don't think that's very supportive of you, Catherine." He said stiffly. Catherine resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  
"Yes, it is. It's just in support of Sara and not you." She said bluntly. "Now, as your friend, I know that you're embarrassed and I'm sorry that your feelings have been hurt, but did you honestly expect her to wait around for you forever? She asked you out and you turned her down."  
The only response that she got was a glare, which she shrugged off.  
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Grissom spoke slowly.  
"Do you know how long she's been seeing him?"  
As Catherine slowly opened her mouth to reply, a sudden malicious thought struck him.  
"It's not Hank, is it?"  
Catherine didn't bother to resist the urge this time. Rolling her eyes, she answered derisively.  
"No. How could you think that Sara even gives him the time of day?" She shook her head before smiling slightly. "Anyway, Hank is probably still afraid to glance at her."  
At Grissom's confused look, she shook her head. "On what planet do you live on Gil? When the guys found out what Hank had been up to, they started to make his working with them very uncomfortable. Even Greg let the guy know where he stood in the popularity rankings. And it says a lot that the asshole is below even Hodges."  
Grissom was silent for a moment as he took that piece of information in. Then he repeated his first question. "How long has she been seeing this guy?"  
Shrugging, Catherine replied "A while, I guess. Not that she told me anything. But my estimate would be about a month or so."  
"Do you know who?"  
"No. She hasn't mentioned any names." Glancing at her watch, she stood up.  
"I better get going, I have to pick up some groceries on my way home." Pausing at the door, she said gently "Don't sit here all day thinking about it Gris. Go home and get some rest." When he nodded she smiled and walked slowly down the corridor thinking about the conversation and about Sara.  
She had been surprised that Grissom had actually asked the younger woman out and while she sympathised with him, Catherine wasn't surprised that he had been turned down. Contrary to what she had told the entomologist, she did know whom Sara was going out with although the other woman wasn't aware that Catherine knew.About a fortnight before, she had happened to overhear part of a conversation between Warrick and Sara as she got into her car in the parking lot. They had thought themselves out of earshot but she had heard Sara ask Warrick what time his Grams expected to see them at. Warrick's voice had been to low to hear, but Catherine had been around the two long enough to gather that there would be only one possible reason for Sara to be visiting Warrick's grandmother.  
She hadn't thought it advisable to tell Grissom about them though, especially as they were obviously keeping it low-key at work. Catherine wasn't sure that even she would have noticed anything unusual about the two if she hadn't overheard the snippet of conversation, they were so restrained about the entire thing.As she unlocked her car, she smiled. Hoping that everything worked out for the pair, she sat into the car and drove off, her attention now securely focused on what groceries she needed.


End file.
